I started my New Years Resolutions a day early this year, and did my first CrossFit workout at VictoryCity CrossFit on December 30th. Since that time I’ve done 2-3 workouts per week. With a month of WODs under my belt, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on my experience thus far. I’m in a similar situation to many of my readers – family and work take up most of my time, and so with precious few hours of Me Time available each week for staying healthy with exercise, I wanted to find something that fit these basic criteria:
- Fun
- Time-Efficient
- Full body conditioning
- Blends Strength, Flexibility and Endurance
- After nearly 15 years of bike racing, I also had a particular interest in finding exercise that would help me rebalance my body.
Why CrossFit?
I knew very little about CrossFit prior to attending my first class. All I knew is that it was supposed to be a tough challenge and was a blend of a lot of different types of exercise. With the daily time crunch we all face, the location of the gym halfway between home and work was a help. My first workout:
- 500m rowing (Concept 2 Rower)
- 50 air squats (body weight squats)
- 40 ab mats (sit ups)
- 30 push ups (are you kidding me)
- 20 ring rows (basically an incline body weight row)
I don’t remember my time for that first workout. What I do remember about it was that it was quick, fun, and was crushed by the push ups. I was sore for a few days, but in a good way.
My Experience Thus Far: The Good
Every single workout is a challenge. I have been energized and invigorated by the training program, and feel changes happening quickly. I have had muscle soreness in areas that I can’t remember ever having soreness before, and it feels good to get in head-to-toe training. I’m having fun training with the group and learning new ways to train.
Thrusters are one of the most challenging lifts I’ve done
The Bad
I’ve got some serious gaps in my fitness, and my ego has been bruised by the chin up bar on several occasions. I was so sore after a squat workout that I struggled going down stairs for a day or two. Two days after my first FRAN workout, my arms got so sore that I had a hard time straightening my them for 2-3 days and that was even with assistance on the chin ups. None of those things are really “Bad” in my book, but simply what happens when motivation is higher than your current fitness level.
I could not have done this workout without some help from the band!
The Plan
I feel great and I am having a lot of fun with the workouts. I am planning on continuing my 2-3 workouts per week, and will supplement with some garage home gym workouts here and there. Overall, I am definitely meeting my three main criteria listed above, and I’m encouraged by the rapid progress that I’ve made so far. For any of our clinic patients that are interested in CrossFit and whether the classes might be a good match for their fitness goals, please talk to me about it at your next appointment or send me a message and we’ll figure out a plan. Maybe we’ll see you at the gym!
The Gym
Victory City CrossFit is located at:
2044 NW Pettygrove St
Portland, OR 97209
They are open 7 days a week, and if you are there on a Tuesday afternoon or Saturday morning you’ll probably see me there.